Thousands of protesters are expected to gather in Washington, D.C., on Saturday and hold separate demonstrations across the country as part of renewed pressure for national gun control. Motivated by a new influx of mass shootings, from Uwalde, Texas, to Buffalo, New York, protesters say lawmakers must take into account changing public opinion and eventually carry out far-reaching reforms.
Organizers expect the second March for Our Lives rally to draw about 50,000 protesters to the Washington Monument. This is much less than the initial march of 2018, which filled downtown Washington with more than 200,000 people. This time the organizers are focusing on holding smaller marches in about 300 places.
“We want to make sure this work happens across the country,” said Daoud Moomin, co-chair of the march’s board of directors and a recent graduate of Westminster College in Salt Lake City. “This job is not just for the District of Columbia, it’s not just for senators.”
According to the March for Our Lives website, a rally is planned in Toronto, near the US Consulate at University Ave.
Former Congresswoman and survivor of gun violence Gabby Giffords was shown at a gun control rally in Washington, DC, on November 3, 2021, with David Hogg, a student at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School and a board member of the March for Our Lives. (Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press)
The first march was prompted by the February 14, 2018 murder of 14 students and three employees of a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. This massacre sparked the creation of the Youth-led March for Our Lives movement, which successfully pushed Republican-dominated Florida governments to undertake large-scale gun control reforms.
Parkland students then targeted gun laws in other states and nationally by launching the March for Our Lives and holding a major rally in Washington on March 24, 2018.
The group has not responded to Florida’s national results, but has continued to advocate gun control since then, as well as participate in voter registration campaigns.
We hope that recent tragedies can lead to changes in the law
With another series of mass shootings that restores gun control to the national conversation, event organizers this weekend say it is a good time to renew their efforts for national reform.
“We’re angry right now,” said Mariah Cooley, a board member of March For Our Lives and a senior at Howard University in Washington. “This will be a demonstration to show that we as Americans will not stop until Congress is done. And if not, we will vote for them.
WATCH Miah Cerrillo’s testimony covers the congressional hearing:
The survivor of the shooting at a school in Texas gave clear evidence to the commission
This video contains content that some viewers may find disturbing. Mia Serilo, a fourth-grader who survived the mass shooting in Uwalde, Texas, described how she avoided the shooter while he was killing her classmates.
The protest comes at a time of renewed political activism against guns and a crucial moment for possible action in Congress.
Survivors of mass shootings and other incidents of gun violence lobbied lawmakers and testified on Capitol Hill this week. Among them was Mia Serilo, an 11-year-old girl who survived the shooting at Rob Elementary School in Uwalde, Texas. She told lawmakers how she covered herself in the blood of a dead classmate to avoid being shot.
Actor Matthew McConaughey appeared in a White House briefing on Tuesday to push for gun laws and made many personal remarks about the violence in his hometown of Uwalde.
WATCH McConaughey pleads for bipartisan action:
Matthew McConaughey makes an emotional call for gun control reform
Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey made an emotional call for reform of gun control in the United States during a White House speech. Uwalde, Texas, the site of a recent deadly shooting at an elementary school, is the actor’s hometown.
The chamber passed bills that would raise the age limit for the purchase of semi-automatic weapons and establish federal “red flag” laws. But such initiatives have traditionally stalled or been heavily diluted in the Senate. Democrat and Republican senators had hoped to reach an agreement this week on a framework to address the issue and spoke Friday, but had not announced an agreement until early tonight.
Moomin called the Senate “where essential action goes to die” and said the new march was aimed at sending a message to lawmakers that public opinion on gun control is changing at their feet.
“If they are not on our side, there will be consequences – to vote for them to withdraw and turn their lives into hell when they are in power,” he said.
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